High Signal Podcasts Evidence ledger
Method
Browse
How the evidence works
← All source episodes

Conversations with Tyler / episode intelligence

John Nye on Revisionist Economic History and Having Too Many Hobbies

21 Nov 2018 32 published claims 2 attributable people
Open original episode ↗ Read the evidence

Speakers in the public record

Tyler CowenJohn Nye

Claim mix

belief 22evaluation 8prediction 2

Evidence policy

Every row below preserves an exact excerpt. Identified speakers are linked; unresolved voices are labeled and excluded from people counts.

Claim ledger

The useful parts, with receipts.

32 published records

01 / belief

If we think about the First Industrial Revolution in Britain, many factors driving that revolution have been cited: ideology, coal, population growth in demographics, the building of a culture of science and engineering, and so on.

“If we think about the First Industrial Revolution in Britain, many factors driving that revolution have been cited: ideology, coal, population growth in demographics, the building of a culture of science and engineering, and so on.”
Speaker
Tyler Cowen
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

03 / belief

I would like to see objective tests and standards used to judge quality whenever possible, and I think that the rise of an anti-meritocratic notion or the idea that meritocracy should be adjusted for social needs has made it very hard to have, I think, state-of-the-art production in many areas.

“I would like to see objective tests and standards used to judge quality whenever possible, and I think that the rise of an anti-meritocratic notion or the idea that meritocracy should be adjusted for social needs has made it very hard to have, I think, state-of-the-art production in many areas.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

05 / belief

Without acquiring or making the effort to acquire a decent accent — I’m not talking about perfectly mimicking someone who’s fluent, but of getting a decent accent — you won’t, in my view, get a full understanding of what that language and that culture brings to you.

“Without acquiring or making the effort to acquire a decent accent — I’m not talking about perfectly mimicking someone who’s fluent, but of getting a decent accent — you won’t, in my view, get a full understanding of what that language and that culture brings to you.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

06 / belief

I would argue the political impetus, the imperatives of holding together such a large land mass and all the peoples in it, and worrying about its borders, overwhelms incentives to promote growth and development within the country.

“I would argue the political impetus, the imperatives of holding together such a large land mass and all the peoples in it, and worrying about its borders, overwhelms incentives to promote growth and development within the country.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

07 / belief

Secondly, I felt, growing up, that the Philippines really was an intellectual backwater, and I had this mythic view in my mind of what the center would or should be like.

“Secondly, I felt, growing up, that the Philippines really was an intellectual backwater, and I had this mythic view in my mind of what the center would or should be like.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

08 / belief

Moreover, I think there was slow growth in the sense that you were integrating a large, very poor population, both domestically and through immigration, and all these things contributed to what looks like slow growth.

“Moreover, I think there was slow growth in the sense that you were integrating a large, very poor population, both domestically and through immigration, and all these things contributed to what looks like slow growth.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

12 / belief

I agree with you, it really upsets people, and for that reason, we don’t see meritocracy in most venues, even in academia. But I think the real problem that you get in the United States is, given the ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States, then what you get is, you get tribalism along lines that recreate many of the things that I think the liberal republic was designed to get rid of.

“I agree with you, it really upsets people, and for that reason, we don’t see meritocracy in most venues, even in academia. But I think the real problem that you get in the United States is, given the ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States, then what you get is, you get tribalism along lines that recreate many of the things that I think the liberal republic was designed to get rid of.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

13 / belief

If I think about the economy of Taiwan, two things strike me. First, in international supply chains, Taiwan reaps a pretty high percentage of value added, but at the same time you’ve had wage stagnation at the median in Taiwan longer than almost anywhere.

“If I think about the economy of Taiwan, two things strike me. First, in international supply chains, Taiwan reaps a pretty high percentage of value added, but at the same time you’ve had wage stagnation at the median in Taiwan longer than almost anywhere.”
Speaker
Tyler Cowen
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

14 / belief

Once you can do that, then it’s possible for, I think, the more interesting regional dishes that will also be interesting to foodies to get introduced as well.

“Once you can do that, then it’s possible for, I think, the more interesting regional dishes that will also be interesting to foodies to get introduced as well.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

15 / belief

War, Wine, and Taxes talks about the fact that it’s ironic that in the period we think of as liberal Britain, Britain had the fastest-growing tax revenues throughout the 18th century of any country in western Europe.

“War, Wine, and Taxes talks about the fact that it’s ironic that in the period we think of as liberal Britain, Britain had the fastest-growing tax revenues throughout the 18th century of any country in western Europe.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

17 / belief

Whether or not that’s an anomaly, or that’s the beginning of a totally different change in the way human beings organize themselves is, I think, for the future. But I think the assumption that political liberalism, as we’ve seen, that foments both increased individual freedoms as well as increased economic freedoms, plus economic growth, is either stable or sustainable is not clear-cut to me.

“Whether or not that’s an anomaly, or that’s the beginning of a totally different change in the way human beings organize themselves is, I think, for the future. But I think the assumption that political liberalism, as we’ve seen, that foments both increased individual freedoms as well as increased economic freedoms, plus economic growth, is either stable or sustainable is not clear-cut to me.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

19 / belief

I think the evidence is strong there — again, this is not my area — but the evidence is that that is one case in which the United States had institutions that were good enough to take advantage of the resource bounty.

“I think the evidence is strong there — again, this is not my area — but the evidence is that that is one case in which the United States had institutions that were good enough to take advantage of the resource bounty.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

21 / belief

I think, to the extent that what we think of as modern economic growth began in the West and was a very uniquely Western phenomenon in the modern sense, only later adapted by Japan and then more recently by many Asian economies, it’s clear that Christianity played a very big role. And I think one of the things that, say, Fukuyama mentions in one of his recent books, and others have mentioned, is the role the Catholic Church played in promoting the nuclear family: banning cousin marriage without special permission, focusing on trying to unify romantic love with formal marriage, asking for the consent of women in the marriage vows, focusing on the need for celibacy and the need for monogamy, discouraging polygamy and the extended family.

“I think, to the extent that what we think of as modern economic growth began in the West and was a very uniquely Western phenomenon in the modern sense, only later adapted by Japan and then more recently by many Asian economies, it’s clear that Christianity played a very big role. And I think one of the things that, say, Fukuyama mentions in one of his recent books, and others have mentioned, is the role the Catholic Church played in promoting the nuclear family: banning cousin marriage without special permission, focusing on trying to unify romantic love with formal marriage, asking for the consent of women in the marriage vows, focusing on the need for celibacy and the need for monogamy, discouraging polygamy and the extended family.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

22 / belief

I think we see a lot of things there, and it’s hard to tell how much of that is what’s happening interwar period and how much of it is the turn to socialism around the time of World War II.

“I think we see a lot of things there, and it’s hard to tell how much of that is what’s happening interwar period and how much of it is the turn to socialism around the time of World War II.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

23 / prediction

Within the decade, virtually all the major powers in Europe are locked into a free trade agreement with Britain and France because they’re afraid of being left out because the two major powers in the continent have negotiated this treaty.

“Within the decade, virtually all the major powers in Europe are locked into a free trade agreement with Britain and France because they’re afraid of being left out because the two major powers in the continent have negotiated this treaty.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

24 / prediction

If elites have so much influence over trade policy, why is it that Britain got rid of the Corn Laws at all? Because the Americans were one of the major beneficiaries.

“If elites have so much influence over trade policy, why is it that Britain got rid of the Corn Laws at all? Because the Americans were one of the major beneficiaries.”
Speaker
Tyler Cowen
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

27 / evaluation

There’s a lot of discussion about this, but certainly I’d say the regional nature of the agriculture contributed to a lot of what we think of as good food, but it’s not just that.

“There’s a lot of discussion about this, but certainly I’d say the regional nature of the agriculture contributed to a lot of what we think of as good food, but it’s not just that.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

28 / evaluation

One of the things that shocked me was that, from about the 1850s, or certainly the 1860s, to the end of the 19th century, France had, in fact, much earlier, going back to the ’30s, France seemed to have lower average tariffs than the British did, for I would say three-quarters of the 19th century.

“One of the things that shocked me was that, from about the 1850s, or certainly the 1860s, to the end of the 19th century, France had, in fact, much earlier, going back to the ’30s, France seemed to have lower average tariffs than the British did, for I would say three-quarters of the 19th century.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

30 / evaluation

The good example is Francois I of France, who often had, because of the problems that people like Doug North have talked about, a credible commitment, could not borrow money except with very high interest rates.

“The good example is Francois I of France, who often had, because of the problems that people like Doug North have talked about, a credible commitment, could not borrow money except with very high interest rates.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

31 / evaluation

Petersburg. And their inability to permit that or encourage it — or in fact, in my view, their tendency to discourage it because, for various complicated reasons — is part of what holds Russia back.

“Petersburg. And their inability to permit that or encourage it — or in fact, in my view, their tendency to discourage it because, for various complicated reasons — is part of what holds Russia back.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler

32 / evaluation

Finally, the other thing that occurred is that people forget that initially, the wine tariffs, which go back to the late 1600s and early 1700s, were primarily protectionist. They were an attack on France, but because of the high tariffs, the British were able to impose very high taxes on domestic alcohol, in particular things like beer, but also gin, whiskey, et cetera.

“Finally, the other thing that occurred is that people forget that initially, the wine tariffs, which go back to the late 1600s and early 1700s, were primarily protectionist. They were an attack on France, but because of the high tariffs, the British were able to impose very high taxes on domestic alcohol, in particular things like beer, but also gin, whiskey, et cetera.”
Speaker
John Nye
Publisher
Conversations with Tyler
Search evidence